Use of a Case-Based Hypermedia Resource in an Early Literacy Coaching Intervention With Pre-Kindergarten Teachers

Use of a case-based hypermedia resource (HR) was examined in a Web-based early literacy coaching intervention with pre-kindergarten teachers of at-risk children. Web usage logs, written records of coach feedback to teachers on their instruction, and a teacher questionnaire were the primary data sources. Visits to the HR content pages were unevenly distributed across literacy topics, with 9 of 16 cases in the video-intensive HR receiving a majority of all page visits. Usage patterns of both teachers and coaches point to selective engagement of the Web's resources rather than usage driven by the available number of items in each of the HR's content areas. Teachers provided highly favorable assessments of the video exemplars, including their ecological validity. Implications for the design and uses of Web-based professional development are discussed.